Vladimir Putin has won the Presidential elections for the fifth time, recording 87% vote. Remarkably, this is one of the highest percentages in the election history of post-Soviet Russia. Putin is scheduled to be inaugurated as the President on May 7, 2024.
Russia’s Central Election Commission confirmed on Monday that Putin will become the President of the country for another six years. The Chief of the Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said that more than 76 million people voted for Putin, his highest vote count till now.
Many officials from major countries now claim that Putin won the election because of the lack of strong opposition. Most of the potential opponents are either in jail or intimidated by him. Protests surfaced in the country; however, Putin has dismissed them and called the election purely democratic.
Countries, including the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, said that the elections were neither free nor fair. The partial results are evident as communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov accomplished the second position but only received less than 4% of the votes. Further, Vladislav Davankov finished third, with ultra-nationalist Leonid Slutsky fourth on the list.
During his victory speech, Putin told his followers that his priority was to complete tasks related to the country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine and that he would strive to make the Russian army even stronger.
He said,
We have many tasks ahead. But when we are consolidated – no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us – nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future.
Meanwhile, Putin sees this victory as the faith and trust of Russians in him. Notably, condemning Putin or the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is a criminal offense in the country.
One of his strongest critics and a human rights worker, Alexei Navalny, died in prison last month after being sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment. He was booked last year on the charges of extremism, which Navalny and his supporters denied.
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